Hi everyone,
I’ve been checking this forum but I have not managed to find duplicates (I’m using Summit for Lemmy). If that’s the case I’ll remove this post.
I’m about to start a PhD. I’ve been told I will be required to partake in publications and other shenanigans. I am not against it, but I’m very concerned about having my full name flying around the internet, as I’ve always been hesitant of sharing any of that information (real name, pictures, etc).
Ultimately, I only care for potential employers to know that it’s actually me the one who has written this or that, which I would happily disclose in private.
What’s the usual stance in this situation?
Part of being an academic is being available to discuss your publications. Your full name will not only be flying around the internet but recorded permanently in libraries and journals.
Science is about collaboration, and standing behind the work you do, publicly. You will find it extremely difficult or impossible to get your PhD without being known to the academic community.
I think you won’t find many anonymous scientific papers held in high regard.
Another commenter mentioned going by a pseudonym, which is pretty much what I had in mind - I’ve always been grown up on the idea of not disclosing your full name nor your physical location, but many universities’ websites not only shows the full names of their profs, but also their coordinates and their office hours.
There’s a publicly available record of where and when someone is readily present, for better and, especially when it comes to preserving one’s safety, for worse.
Let me make this point clearer: would you publicly disclose where you live or where you spend most of your time? I hope you see some of my concerns now.
I trust this is the right place to find like minded people and maybe find a solution, not to argue about what an academic should or should not be.
I’ll say it straight forward, if you are considering an academic career you are just shooting yourself in the leg with this. It is already hard to make it in academia, using a pseudonym and expecting people to believe you or check additional proof it is actually your publication is not going to fly.
If you already know that you won’t stay in academia but go to industry it might not be much easier. People won’t care as much about publications but they still look good on your CV.
Ah, also just doing a PhD might make you end up in some publicly available database where your thesis will end up in. And I strongly doubt any reputable university would give you a PhD under a pseudonym.